Nebakanezer
02-23-2006, 06:16 AM
If I was Hitler!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060222/hl_afp/czechhealthsociety
Czech gypsies fight for justice over forced sterilizations
Wed Feb 22, 1:16 PM ET
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AFP) - "A sterilized woman is like a dead tree, all that remains is for it to be cut down." In an emotion-filled voice, Natasa Botosova, 39, recounts her case to around 15 gypsy women, determined, like her, to obtain justice after years of silence.
Those listening share the same experience: all maintain they were subject to forced sterilizations; Jirina "without knowing about it," Anna "without comprehending," and Helena "without giving her consent."
For years, Natasha guarded her silence "because being sterilized is a personal disgrace," in a community where children are a reason for pride.
The recent legal victory of 22-year-old gypsy, Helena Ferencikova, followed by the conclusions of an official report which admitted for the first time the existence of victims of "illegal sterilizations" in the Czech Republic, have given them "the courage to fight on."
Ferencikova, whose outrage at what happened to her has not dimmed since the event in 2001, explained what happened: "They were going to perform a Cesarian, they made me sign a paper, then I learnt when I woke up that I had been sterilized."
In November, the Ostrava regional court said that her "personal rights had been flouted," because she had not given her "clear consent" to the doctors.
The ruling represented a first in Central Europe, according to the Budapest-based European Centre for the Rights of Gypsies.
Protests against such eugenic practices have been voiced in the Czech Republic since 1978, but a Czech representative in 2003 assured a session of the United Nations that they were "a myth."
Ferencikova says her victory "belongs to all the women of Ostrava," a bleak industrial city in the east of the country, and that she will fight on "until the end."
The court ordered the hospital to apologize for what happened but rejected claims for compensation on the grounds that the deadline for damages had lapsed.
The case is now the subject of a separate appeal. Ferencikova's lawyer claims that damages should not be waived for a violation of personal rights, the hospital bases its appeal on the argument that it acted according to established medical procedures.
In total, 87 gypsies have tabled complaints against forced sterilization in the Czech Republic since 2004. Without waiting for the authorities to look into the cases, the ombudsman - charged with upholding citizens' rights against the public administration - opened an inquiry.
He concluded in his December report, the result of 12 months of investigation, that around 50 cases of "illegal sterilizations" without proper consent had occurred.
On each occasion, doctors asked for the patient's written agreement before tying the tubes. But, according to the report, some of the women did not know how to read or write, others "did not receive sufficient information, which is not in accordance with the law," and none were granted enough time to think over their actions.
The medical notes show in fact that sometimes just 20 minutes separated the patients' entry into the operating theatre and the sterilization operation.
In his conclusions, the ombudsman proposes damages for those cases preceding 1991, the period where the social policies put in place by the Czechoslovak communist regime allocated "sterilization bonuses" and urged social workers to limit gypsies' fertility. After 1991, the ombudsman places the blame on individual medical and social personnel involved in the different cases.
"For years we pressured gypsies to get sterilized because we thought it was for their own good, I did that myself, that is what we were taught in schools," said social assistant Anna Geleticova, who joined the association "Live Together," which lay behind the mobilisation of Ostrava's gypsy community. issue.
The sterilization issue is far from creating unanimity within Czech society. "Everyone knows that the gypsies have children for the family benefits they can claim, that the women were sterilized for the bonuses and that today their only goal is to obtain fresh damages," Katarina, a young Ostrava teacher, commented bluntly.
For Ferencikova and the others "the most important thing is to be recognised as a victim and to know that others will not suffer the same fate."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060222/hl_afp/czechhealthsociety
Czech gypsies fight for justice over forced sterilizations
Wed Feb 22, 1:16 PM ET
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AFP) - "A sterilized woman is like a dead tree, all that remains is for it to be cut down." In an emotion-filled voice, Natasa Botosova, 39, recounts her case to around 15 gypsy women, determined, like her, to obtain justice after years of silence.
Those listening share the same experience: all maintain they were subject to forced sterilizations; Jirina "without knowing about it," Anna "without comprehending," and Helena "without giving her consent."
For years, Natasha guarded her silence "because being sterilized is a personal disgrace," in a community where children are a reason for pride.
The recent legal victory of 22-year-old gypsy, Helena Ferencikova, followed by the conclusions of an official report which admitted for the first time the existence of victims of "illegal sterilizations" in the Czech Republic, have given them "the courage to fight on."
Ferencikova, whose outrage at what happened to her has not dimmed since the event in 2001, explained what happened: "They were going to perform a Cesarian, they made me sign a paper, then I learnt when I woke up that I had been sterilized."
In November, the Ostrava regional court said that her "personal rights had been flouted," because she had not given her "clear consent" to the doctors.
The ruling represented a first in Central Europe, according to the Budapest-based European Centre for the Rights of Gypsies.
Protests against such eugenic practices have been voiced in the Czech Republic since 1978, but a Czech representative in 2003 assured a session of the United Nations that they were "a myth."
Ferencikova says her victory "belongs to all the women of Ostrava," a bleak industrial city in the east of the country, and that she will fight on "until the end."
The court ordered the hospital to apologize for what happened but rejected claims for compensation on the grounds that the deadline for damages had lapsed.
The case is now the subject of a separate appeal. Ferencikova's lawyer claims that damages should not be waived for a violation of personal rights, the hospital bases its appeal on the argument that it acted according to established medical procedures.
In total, 87 gypsies have tabled complaints against forced sterilization in the Czech Republic since 2004. Without waiting for the authorities to look into the cases, the ombudsman - charged with upholding citizens' rights against the public administration - opened an inquiry.
He concluded in his December report, the result of 12 months of investigation, that around 50 cases of "illegal sterilizations" without proper consent had occurred.
On each occasion, doctors asked for the patient's written agreement before tying the tubes. But, according to the report, some of the women did not know how to read or write, others "did not receive sufficient information, which is not in accordance with the law," and none were granted enough time to think over their actions.
The medical notes show in fact that sometimes just 20 minutes separated the patients' entry into the operating theatre and the sterilization operation.
In his conclusions, the ombudsman proposes damages for those cases preceding 1991, the period where the social policies put in place by the Czechoslovak communist regime allocated "sterilization bonuses" and urged social workers to limit gypsies' fertility. After 1991, the ombudsman places the blame on individual medical and social personnel involved in the different cases.
"For years we pressured gypsies to get sterilized because we thought it was for their own good, I did that myself, that is what we were taught in schools," said social assistant Anna Geleticova, who joined the association "Live Together," which lay behind the mobilisation of Ostrava's gypsy community. issue.
The sterilization issue is far from creating unanimity within Czech society. "Everyone knows that the gypsies have children for the family benefits they can claim, that the women were sterilized for the bonuses and that today their only goal is to obtain fresh damages," Katarina, a young Ostrava teacher, commented bluntly.
For Ferencikova and the others "the most important thing is to be recognised as a victim and to know that others will not suffer the same fate."